The Official SE Virginia/NE North Carolina Thread for August 2002  

Man, July sure went by fast. Well, I guess, we are a little closer to the new HD programming coming up in this fall's line up. Looking forward to it, as I need some new viewing material.

Thanks for including links to previous threads in this month's thread.

Hi Everyone in Hampton Roads.

I own a Mistubishi WS55859 HDTV. Mr. Chuck Williams, one of the best ISF calibration engineers, is coming to Hampton Roads to professionally calibrate my Mits. He is highly reguarded nationwide as one of the best in the country.

He will be here tenatively the week of Aug 19th.

If any of you visit The Home Theater Spot, you will know who I'm speaking about. I have been on his waiting list since Feburary to get him here to do his magic. He is finally coming. :D

I told him that I would post on this forum to let everyone in the area know that he is coming here. If any of you are interested in having him do magic on your set, please email me at obxdiver@worldnet.att.net
I will let him know of anyone interested.
You can email Chuck directly at cmwtek@aol.com
Aug 19 is right around the corner. Don't miss this guy. He wont be back soon.

Anyone seeing WHRO-DT tonight? I'm not getting it and last night it was very poor reception quality. Also, PAX DT is not on. Is it my set up or are others having a problem with these two stations?
Earl

Earl,

I'm having the same problem. With WHRO-DT, it must have something to do with the power-reduction testing that they are doing because of the interferrence problems with the Salisbury, MD analog station. As far as PAX DT, I don't know what the problem is.
Regards,
Jack

WHRO-DT was locked off-line from 1:30PM to about 8 PM yesterday when a power hit (and a bad one!) at Driver scrambled the #2 High Power Amp. #1 was off-line due to our reduced power operation, so it was not an automatic back-up as it would normally be.

Meanwhile, checking this morning our sat feed was locked up again! Reset at 10 AM. Obviously, we have to work harder to keep our master control operators looking at the digital signal.

Everyone needs to know that we are currently monitoring from a temporary rig in what amounts to a closet compared to the new digital control room under construction, where the operators have two giant HD screens which serve as both monitors and message centers, due on-line October 8th. At that point it will be very hard for them to miss a problem, and the sat feed will originate off our big dish in Norfolk, so there will be significant improvements.....

Appreciate your patience!

JH

BTW, Jack and Earl, please verify how your reception is now, and what time (to the best of your recollection) coverage was poor.

Thanks!

JH

John, as I recall it was around 7-8 PM yesterday when I tried WHRO-DT. Just went and turned it on when I read your post and it's working fine now (Monday 12:30pm)
Earl

Some observations from last nights HD viewing.
1. NBC's "Crossing Jordan" was in 4:3 format. I saw this episode when it originally aired and it was 16:9 HD format. Did the network do this 4:3 formatting or was it local and why?
2.WHRO-DT had very bad sound last night.
3.WTVZ-DT has been off air the last two nights. I believe this is the station that ever since they came on air they have been broadcasting digital sound all in mono all in the left channel. Hopefully they are off air to fix this and any other problems. They show some good movies but it's not worth watching without good sound.

Looking at TV tonight and have the same problem with WHRO-DT and WTVZ-DT. Not to concerned right now about WTVZ but am beginning to wonder if I am the only one having a problem with WHRO-DT sound? Anybody else getting good sound from them?
Earl

Well, I didn't do anything on my end but the sound on WHRO-DT is fine 45 minutes later.
Earl

Hmmm.

Not sure if this was a PBS net problem or our receiver. It was over before I could catch it.

If it happens again, please advise, Earl.

You can reach me at 592-1201.

Thanks.

JH

Hi Gang,

Well, I'm finally home after one week in the hospital for major back surgery. Geeee.......one good thing though, look at all the HDTV I can now watch. I was glad to see yesterday for the first time I put my system on all stations were up, running and working well with one exception. John, I've loved watching the HDTV loop that PBS runs....it is very relaxing.

Unfortunately, Peter will be without my services for a while but look forward to putting my system to more and more use. Hopefully the recovery will be quick.

Bill

Good Luck Bill! Hope you have a speedy recovery.

OB

I don't know if anyone else has been watching the free preview that Dish Network has been running with Discovery HD. To this point, I can't see spending the extra money to watch it. Yes the picture quality is better than their regular Discovery feeds, but I don't think it is worth the $$$. Anyone else with comments?

Thanks for the good wishes OB. :)

Bill- we are thinking of you.

Thanks for the compliment....of course we would prefer relaxing over boring any day!

Best Wishes for a speedy recovery.

JH;)

John,

Thank you for the kind remarks. It will be a somewhat long & tedious recovery, but I hope to be in better shape afterwards than I've been in years. Keep the programming coming! ;)

As a newcomer to the AVS/HDTV Forum and as the proud new owner of a MITS HDTV, I would like to give a report to the DT station engineers and to the group on my system and the associated reception.

After a lot of research, I decided to buy a Mitsubishi WS-55859 55" integrated HDTV from John Chester at Domes A/V in Chesapeake. I wanted the integrated DT receiver and IEEE 1394 interface so that I can record DT broadcasts later (when I purchase a HD D-VHS recorder) and wanted the "Net Command" interface to make it easy for my wife to use.

I bought the MITS on June 24th and have been working off and on since that time to design and integrate the A/V and RF components/sources into a system. After experimenting with two other antennas, I ended up using a Channel Master 4221A UHF antenna with 7775 UHF preamp to bring in the local DT broadcasting stations. It's located in the attic of my two-story house in lower York county (Kiln Creek), about 25 miles from the DT stations. (Also, the antenna points through lots of trees.)

I haven't permanently located or pointed the antenna in the attic since I haven't had a signal strength meter until late last week. The signal strength meter came with the purchase and installation of a Hughes E-86 HD Directv system. I purchased this receiver mainly the receive HDNet and HBO HD. HDNet is fabulous! The picture on the MITS is fantastic using the various Directv HDTV and local terrestrial DT/HDTV sources.

Now for the recption performance (between 7;30 and 8:30 PM on Monday, August 12t)h:

STATION CHANNEL PICTURE QUALITY SIGNAL STRENGTH
CBS 3.01 Excellent 93-100
NBC 10.01 Excellent 86-93
ABC 13.01 Marginal/Much Picture Loss 0-65
UPN 27.01 Occasional Picture 0-100
WB 38.01 Excellent 93-100
FOX 43.01 Excellent 93-100
PAX 49.01 Occasional Picture 0-30
PBS 80.01 Excellent 79

Home Theater Gear:
MITS 55" WS-55859 HDTV
MITS A/V Rack
Channel Master 4221A UHF Antenna and 7775 UHF Preamp (Attic-Mounted/2 Story)
Hughes HD E-86 Directv Receiver and Elliptical Two-LNB Dish
Toshiba SD-2300 DVD Player
Panasonic PV-VS4821 S-VHS Recorder
Sima SYS-4 A/V Component Selector
Bose Lifestyle 12 Surround Sound System

_______________________
Jack Hatfield
Retired NASA Display Engineer and
A/V Consultant

Robert,

Thanks for your comments. What is VARTV and VARTV Mobile?

Welcome Jack!

Let us know how we look after you point your antenna. For what it's worth, if there is any way you can put it outside it will work better. From Yorktown you should be able to get a great signal from us. Good luck!

George Randell
WGNT/WGNT-DT

George,

Thanks for the tip, but I can't put it outside because of Homeowner restrictions in Kiln Creek. The antenna should be pointed approximately correctly now, but will get back to you after adjustments are made.

FYI, IFAIK, Home-owner Associations cannot prohibit a home-owner from putting up an antenna or satellite dish, as long as the home is not in a historical district. The home-owner is to first attempt to find a non-conspicuous location, but failing that he/she can erect the antenna anywhere on the property.

Happen to be in Ford's Colony last week in James City County, which as you might know has a very critical home-owner's association. Next door to the friend I was visiting was a ground mounted satellite dish right in the front yard!

Jack,

You might want to take a look at what the FCC has to say about outdoor rooftop antennas. With few exceptions, there is little a Homeowners Association can do to stop them.

http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Ca.../otafacts.html

George

George and barrysd,

Thanks for the info. I was in error in thinking that the new FFC rules applied only to satellite dishes (which I have in the back yard). I will continue to make the attic location work well, but if I can't get continuous reception on all DT channels, then, I will concider moving it to the rooftop.

Jack

FYI,

WTKR-DT will be operating at various power levels over the next two weeks. There could also be some short times of transmitter shut down. Will keep advised via this forum and VARTV.


Ted Hand, CPBE
DE
WTKR-DT

FYI,


WTKR-DT will operate at 40% power until futher notice. Look for updates on this forum and VARTV.


Ted Hand, CPBE
DE
WTKR-DT

What the...

Why? Did I spend all this $ for nothing (at least no SEC football). I am bummed...

Wait, I'm getting the same signal as before in W'burg (good-excellent). Reduction must not be implemented just yet.

I hope this will only be for a short time. If CBS has HD college or NFL games (they have not told me yet). We will operate at full power. The 40% level is only during the night time and again, I don't think will last long. It is beyond WTKR-DT control.


Ted Hand, CPBE
DE
WTKR-DT